ITLC Contributes to Panel Discussion on Zero-Emission Freight Implementation at TRB Annual |
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On Sunday January 9th, the ITLC joined a group of panelists in delivering an engaging afternoon session on Zero-Emission Freight Implementation: Issues, Challenges and Solutions in Building a Training Ecosystem. This session was sponsored by TRB’s Standing Committees on Intermodal Freight Transport and on Ports and Channels.
Deputy Director Xinge Wang kicked off the session by providing an overview on the general workforce trends in the freight transportation industry. She then introduced the opportunities afforded by the transition to ZEV and challenges with the associated workforce transition, including identification of skills gaps among technicians. Tom O’Brien, Executive Director of METRANS Transportation Center at California State University, Long Beach followed up with their research from the development of the Sustainable Freight Certificate. Aravind Kailas, Advanced Technology Policy Director of Volvo Group North America served as a respondent offering an industry perspective on the earlier panel presentations. The session wrapped with a lively moderated roundtable discussion exploring how these broader trends, in particular those tied to zero emissions freight systems, are viewed by the operators of the system and how they are preparing to maintain pipelines of talent for a changing work environment.
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APTA’s Emerging Leaders Program |
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Are you an emerging professional in the public transportation industry and considering the next steps in your career (e.g., how you achieve your next promotion)? If so, consider APTA’s Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) as a professional development opportunity that will help you grow as a leader and expand your understanding of the industry.
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National Skills Coalition – February 15-17, 2022
Individuals representing community based organizations and advocates, community colleges, the public workforce, education, and training systems, labor, and business are invited to take part in NSC’s annual Skills Summit. 2022 Priorities:
- Elevate your voice with Members of Congress and the Administration
- Build relationships with federal policymakers and partners from across the country
- Contribute to discussions on skills training in the context of an inclusive economic recovery
SPIR – February 17, 8:00 PM ET
Three transit systems — BART, Muni and Caltrain — carried 73% of the region’s weekday transit trips before the onset of the pandemic, yet they currently face the greatest financial uncertainty. Though transit trips are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels for many years, hundreds of thousands of residents continue to rely on these systems every day, and they serve a critical role in meeting the Bay Area’s sustainability, equity and mobility goals. However, despite these systems’ indispensability, there is no current plan for how they will continue to operate once the American Rescue Plan emergency grants supporting transit operations through the pandemic are exhausted — which may occur as soon as 2023. Join a discussion between BART, Muni and Caltrain board members as they discuss what’s at risk, the financial challenges and the potential solutions.
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Cal Matters – January 25, 2022
Transit agencies around the state are experiencing a worker shortage – and it’s disrupting service in Sacramento, the Bay Area and in Southern California because too many workers are out sick, quarantining or scared to come into work.
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Greater Greater Washington - January 24, 2022
The Bus Transformation Project Progress Report, released last week by the MetroNow Coalition — which includes the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Federal City Council, Greater Washington Board of Trade, Greater Washington Partnership, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, the 2030 Group, and Tysons Partnership —is a report card, in some respects, on how well bus providers are expanding services to riders. Here is a snapshot of what’s in the report.
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ABC 7 – January 19, 2022
“The bill includes about $107 billion for public transportation over the next five years,” said ATU Government Affairs Director Jeff Rosenberg. “I would like to see it now,” said ATU International President John Costa. In a letter to transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, the union is calling for the agency to “fast track implementation of the key amendments to the surface transportation.” Read the letter here. See televised news coverage here.
TTD – January 20, 2022
In his first year in office, President Biden has followed through on his promise to be “the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history.” Under President Biden’s leadership, there has been a whole-of-government approach to ensure that unions have a seat at the table and that workers have a say in shaping the federal policies that affect them.
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Building Transportation Infrastructure |
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Fast Company – January 26, 2022
For public transit, 2022 could be a huge year. Across the U.S. and around the world, dozens of new train, bus, and streetcar lines are scheduled to begin operations, according to a newly released overview of transit projects compiled by urban researcher Yonah Freemark. After two years of the pandemic slashing ridership, the planned openings of these years-in-the-making transit lines represent a glimmer of hope that public transit is, if not well, at least alive.
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Mass Transit – January 18, 2022
The mission of the HFC Bus Council is to educate policymakers, regulators and transportation stakeholders on the benefits of hydrogen fuel cell electric buses and related infrastructure. Through effective education and advocacy, the HFC Bus Council will expand the development, deployment and utilization of safe, clean and efficient hydrogen fuel cell electric buses, and create additional market opportunities to advance hydrogen fuel cell technology in the delivery of public transit services.
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Transportation Editorials |
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Governing – January 20, 2022
Chakrabarti, an architect and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who served in the early 2000s in the New York Department of City Planning, has a vision for Manhattan: no privately owned cars. None. By removing privately owned cars, Chakrabarti hopes to strike the coup de grace to automobile reliance and instead push New Yorkers into public transit. It’s a view of urban life that can surely apply to cities other than New York. “The last big infrastructure bill we passed in this country was the [1956] Federal Highway Act,” he said in an interview, noting that the law that authorized construction of the Interstate Highway System served to form American cultural dependence on privately owned cars and literally pave the way for outward migration to the suburbs. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Chakrabarti says, could spark a similar reassessment of living demands. “If we did it once, we can do it again.”
Streetsblog – January 24, 2022
With the infrastructure law set to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in physical infrastructure projects across the country, our Caucus will work with the Biden Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and stakeholders to ensure the projects and policies we implement meet our communities’ needs. That means making our existing roads and bridges safer, emphasizing equity, access and sustainability, and targeting federal dollars to communities that need them most.
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International Transportation Learning Center
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